Differences; Teacher

Two descriptive pilot studies employed a multi-group and pre- and post-design to analyze the relationship between students ' exposure to computers and reductions in their computer anxiety scores and the relationship between the amount of computer exposure to computer anxiety scores. In the first study, standardized measures of computer anxiety and computer knowledge were administered to 21 graduate students in instructional technology and 22 graduate students in education; the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was also administered to both groups to assess the relationship of personality type with computer anxiety and gain in computer knowledge. Results indicated that the group with continuous exposure to computers showed greater reduction of anxiety scores and higher than predicted scores on a standard measure of computer literacy. The second study measured 127 undergraduates who had little or no previous computer science coursework, all of whom were enrolled in a fundamental computing course (47 % males and 53 % females). The only measure administered to this group was the Computer Anxiety Index (CAIN). No significant relationships were found between gender and computer anxiety, although the results did lend support to the proposition that there is a significant relationship between computer anxiety and computer experiences/exposure. An 18-item bibliography is included. (DJR) * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document.